Time searching for lost ball??

[Phil2511]

During a match if your opponent(s) hit a ball into the bundoo how long would you look for it?
Would you time it to the allowed 5 minutes or would you let it go on until they say let's move on and give up the search?

The reason I ask is this occurred yesterday during a club fourball match play and it must have been close on 10 mins the opponent was looking while we played up to the green and then went to assist, my partner found the ball just as we got fed up looking. Our opponent then made a great up and down for par to win the hole.
The opponents would be classed as golf friends so would you stick to the 5 mins or allow leeway?

The match finished halved at 18 in pitch dark and both sides have agreed to replay rather than come back another day for sudden death holes. But on afterthoughts if we had stuck to the 5 mins we would have won the hole in question and possibly won the match yesterday rather than the half.
All opinions welcome.

 

[chris661]

I thought you couldn't agree to disregard the rules of golf and doing so was a dq?

Time allowed five minutes and no more but if my oppo said head on then I would watch him very closely in case he had a nice wee hole in the trousers.

 

[pbrown7582]

Generally leave it to oppo but if you feel it's heading toward 10 mins I think I would of suggest getting near time and see what they had to say, sounds nice friendly competitive match so probaly makes more difficult to 'call' time.

 

[Andy808]

Time limits are there to try and keep the game moving. I voted to keep them. At my club it's a 3 minute limit which is enough to be honest.

 

[garyinderry]

people usually give up after 5 minutes anyway. if no one is timing it then it can be hard to distinguish when the 5 minutes is actually up.

 

[rosecott]

Time limits are there to try and keep the game moving. I voted to keep them. At my club it's a 3 minute limit which is enough to be honest.

So your club is changing the rules of golf?

 

[garyinderry]

can local rules not do this or are they just extra rules on top of the usuall lot.

 

[garyinderry]

oh and i cant vote in this as i usually let the guy look for his ball as long as he wants within reason. i dont time people so i cant call "time". after i guesstimate that its run over the 5 i usually say that its a lost cause and they should go back and replay the shot.

 

[rosecott]

can local rules not do this or are they just extra rules on top of the usuall lot.

A local rule cannot over-rule a rule of golf.

 

[garyinderry]

A local rule cannot over-rule a rule of golf.

good man. wasnt sure about that. they are just extra rules then. i wish that all clubs would change the rules about balls lying on paths. it should be a free drop. no one likes to hit their lovely new sticks off the paths. pros do it because they get new clubs for free. we dont!

 

[Imurg]

You can tell pretty quickly if there's a chance of finding it.
One of Fragger's shots yesterday went in seriously deep and thick rough.
Within 20 seconds it was obvious that either there was no chance of finding it or if we did he wouldn't be able to play it...
After 2 minutes, more often than not, if it's not been found you probably don't want to...

 

[rosecott]

good man. wasnt sure about that. they are just extra rules then. i wish that all clubs would change the rules about balls lying on paths. it should be a free drop. no one likes to hit their lovely new sticks off the paths. pros do it because they get new clubs for free. we dont!

The rules allow free relief from artificially surfaced paths BUT the club can make a local rule declaring them an integral part of the course - no free drop in that case. Conversely, the club can also introduce a local rule allowing free relief from paths without artificial surfaces. If not playing at home, you need to check!

 

[Evesdad]

The rules allow free relief from artificially surfaced paths BUT the club can make a local rule declaring them an integral part of the course - no free drop in that case. Conversely, the club can also introduce a local rule allowing free relief from paths without artificial surfaces. If not playing at home, you need to check!

We have a public footpath running through ours and certain paths got a free drop and others didn't! This has now been changed so that they all receive relief which a) makes more sense and b) removes any confusion!

On the op if I can't find it pretty quick I usually give up any way! As said before if you do eventually find it you usually wish you hadnt. With the weather we've had and the rough growing crazy deep in places I usually hit a provisional straight away just in case.

 

[Ethan]

good man. wasnt sure about that. they are just extra rules then. i wish that all clubs would change the rules about balls lying on paths. it should be a free drop. no one likes to hit their lovely new sticks off the paths. pros do it because they get new clubs for free. we dont!

It isn't an extra rule - it is an invalid rule and can't be enforced by the club.

 

[slicer79]

What I find can help is if another group is playing behind. Usually it can get players to look quickly within the time limit and then move on without overdoing the search. I've found certain guys can really drag it out if there is no pressure from groups playing behind

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In club matches and comps I've got in the habit of quickly checking my watch once we get to the search area. It isn't to be some kind of Mr Big or get an advantage but the rule says five minutes. I know from my own experience that of you are going well and hit one into the crap you get really wrapped up searching and praying it'll be found and forget about time. The rules are non-negotiable and if you are going to use the full time allowed make sure you call the next group through That way you can search until the last second without everyone getting the hump. Once it gets to about 4 1/2 minutes I'll say to the player we need to think about moving on.

 

[Phil2511]

What I find can help is if another group is playing behind. Usually it can get players to look quickly within the time limit and then move on without overdoing the search. I've found certain guys can really drag it out if there is no pressure from groups playing behind

One of the guys(6hc) we were against is known to be very slow, so we were sort of prepared for a slow round but tbh it was worse than I could have expected. His partner(12hc) had him giving the lines of his putts for the first seven holes and by the time we walked off the 8th green we had been on the course almost 2.5hrs. I have played with both before and this was completely different than what I had seen before. It was as if they were tactically playing slow on purpose.

That plus a constant this is for the win or you have that for the half etc etc at every green, even to the point where the 6(hc) said to me at a par 5 "are you there in 3?" yes "Nett 2" for whatever that was supposed to mean made it a very unpleasant match.

It's as well myself and my partner heckle each other all the time and can block out such comments quite good.

Think i will be following Homers method next time round.

 

[leaney]

The 3 ball in front of us during today's comp took a little more than 5 minutes.....looking for a golf club that one of them had thrown in a tree/bush.

They waived us through in the end. I wrongly assumed they were searching for a ball.

 

[bladeplayer]

A local rule cannot over-rule a rule of golf.

The rules allow free relief from artificially surfaced paths BUT the club can make a local rule declaring them an integral part of the course - no free drop in that case. Conversely, the club can also introduce a local rule allowing free relief from paths without artificial surfaces. If not playing at home, you need to check!

this one is one that has puzzeled me in the past ,, Rosecott Does the 2nd quote not contradict the the 1st ??

 

[North Mimms]

Ever since I played an opponent in a crucial match who looked looked and kept looking for what seemed like forever, i now make a habit of checking time on skycaddie (don't wear watch when playing) as soon as it seems clear ball is not going to be easily found.
It's more usually me that's "on the clock"

On a related point, I assume when a pros ball gets buried in the bundu, the 5 minutes starts when they reach the spot, so the couple of minutes that the crowd and marshalls spend looking are "free extra" minutes